


Punch To The Heart

by Theyre_gazebos_theyre_bs



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bisexual Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie is cute and nice, Everyone Is Alive, Everyone Is Gay, First Kiss, First Meetings, Flirty, Fluff, Gay, IT - Freeform, It's summer, M/M, Non label Richie Tozier, Queer Themes, Reddie, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Soulmate Tattoos, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Stephen King - Freeform, Summer, Tattoos, mlm, queer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22991419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theyre_gazebos_theyre_bs/pseuds/Theyre_gazebos_theyre_bs
Summary: Richie Tozier lives in a universe where you have the first words your soulmate will say to you tattooed somewhere on your body. Richie have the words “I fucked your mom”. He already knows his soulmate is going to be an asshole.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 12
Kudos: 249





	Punch To The Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This took me wayyyyyy too long to write, but I'm quite proud of it. Enjoy this small piece of fluff and soulmate stuff!<3<3

Richie Tozier didn’t understand what he’d done in a past life to deserve the curse he was bearing. 

You see, Richie lived in a universe that was cruel enough to have a whole ass “soulmates” system. And Richie absolutely hated it.

Not because of the soulmates thing. No, he actually quite liked the idea of having that one person to love for the rest of your life (although he’d never admit that). He would have nothing against meeting his soulmate if it was about having the date you would meet tattooed somewhere, or seeing color for the first time when you see your soulmate or whatever. 

The problem was that the system was that the first words your soulmate will say to you were tattooed somewhere on your body. Often some place you couldn’t see clearly, so that random people wouldn’t come up to you and say them just to fuck around. However, Richie hadn’t been that lucky. His tattoo was on his left shoulder, so people could see it quite clearly when he wasn’t wearing a shirt or when he wore a tank top. But like, that would have been fine if the words had been something like  _ hi, my name is…  _ or  _ hey, I like your…  _ like most people’s words were _.  _

But the words on Richie’s left shoulder were  _ I fucked your mom.  _

Richie already hated his soulmate.

Richie’s friends all thought it was hilarious, of course. His closest friend Beverly Marsh always had a new idea of what scenario Richie would meet his soulmate in. She had thought of everything from Richie accidentally spilling hot coffee over someone to the classic “bumping into each other” trope. Anything that called for an insult.

Richie’s other friend Stanley Uris always said that Richie and his soulmate would fit perfectly together, based on the very little information they had to go on. His usual take on it was “they seem to be similar to you, and you know that the ‘opposites attract’ thing is a myth”.

Richie loved his friends, but he also really hated them.

The fact that it also was summer didn’t exactly help Richie with his problem. Every day he had to choose between being humiliated and being overheated. He usually chose the latter, which had eventually made him hate summer over the years. During the whole year he could go with long sleeved shirts and dark t-shirts without feeling judged, but in the summer he got strange looks for wearing black t-shirts (the tattoo could be seen through all his white t-shirts) when it was 86 degrees outside. 

So when Beverly first had suggested they go to the beach, Richie had immediately started thinking of ways to cover up the tattoo. The beach was  _ the worst  _ place to be at with his “condition”. Bev had offered to help him cover it up with makeup, which she had done a few times before, but Richie knew that it would just come off in the water or from sweat. Bev’s makeup was unfortunately not waterproof, and it wasn’t like Richie could afford to get his own. 

Stan had suggested they sit somewhere far away from the rest of the people at the beach, or that they went somewhere where no one else was. Even though Richie appreciated Stan’s helpfulness, he didn’t want to force his friends away from everyone else just because  _ he  _ had a problem. Besides, he could survive a day of getting strange looks and people laughing at him, if it made his friends happy. He also really wanted to go to the beach. 

Besides, Richie also wanted to meet as many people as possible all the time. He was desperate to find his soulmate, partly so that he could yell at them for making him go through his life with a tattoo that said  _ I fucked your mom  _ but also so that the tattoo would go away. Because when you meet your soulmate and they say those words to you, the tattoo goes away. Otherwise you could meet multiple people who say the same thing to you and you’d never know who your soulmate is. It’s also a way to see who has found their soulmate and who hasn’t. Richie knew the the odds of him finding his soulmate at his age (18) was low, since most people met their soulmate in their 30s, but he wasn’t someone who gave up easily.

So that’s how Richard Tozier ended up at a beach filled with people, sitting on his towel with a black t-shirt on, watching everyone he could lay his eye on to see if anyone there possibly could be his soulmate. Not like he could see who they were immediately, 

“Richie, seriously.” a familiar voice said from the towel next to Richie. “Do you ever do anything other than look for that bastard?”

“Only I can call the love of my life a bastard, Stanley” Richie responded with a sugar coated voice. “And no, because my life won’t stop being a living hell until I find them.”

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: go to a speed dating event or something.” Beverly Marsh said from Richie’s other side. She was lying on a blanket on her back, sunglasses on her nose and a book in her hands. Even though Richie couldn’t see her eyes, he was certain she was rolling them. 

“Bev, you know I don’t do too well with those type of things” Richie responded with a sigh and lied down on his towel again to get back in the shadow. He was grateful for the parasol over his head that Stan had brought, since the sun was as high up in the sky as it could go. “Besides, if my soulmate is anything like me, I doubt they would go to a speed dating event either.”

“People watching isn’t going to get you anywhere anyways” Stan said lowly. “Besides, I met my soulmate through pure coincidence, and I strongly believe you can’t actually affect when you meet your soulmate.”

“That’s easy for you to say! You and Patty met at the synagogue, the  _ ideal  _ place for two jews like yourselves. Don’t tell me you didn’t suspect at least a  _ little  _ that you’d meet your girl there.” Richie responded with his usual sarcastic tone, earning a sigh and rolling eyes from Stan. Richie never missed an opportunity to mock Stanley for his girlfriend and the way they met. Partly because it was  _ hilarious  _ that they had met when Patty caught Stan avoiding looking at that scary painting in his dad’s office, but also because Richie so was  _ so fucking jealous  _ of Stan having met his soulmate so young. Not that Stan had had a particularly rough time with his  _ “are you scared of the painting?”  _ tattoo, so it was highly unfair. 

“It could be worse, Rich” Bev said while adjusting her position so that she was lying on her stomach instead. Her new position showed off her own tattoo on the back of her left ankle. It said _“your hair is winter fire”,_ written in red, cursive ink. Richie was very jealous of that tattoo. “Maybe your soulmate’s tattoo says something even worse? I honestly wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Hey, they would deserve it! After everything they’ve put me through, I don’t feel sorry for them whatsoever.”

“Speaking of your soulmate though, have you figured out if they’re a girl, boy or anyone else yet?” Stan asked while propping himself up on his elbows. His curly hair reflected the sun making it seem even more blonde than it already was. Richie squinted his eyes towards the bright, midday sun. When it came to Richie’s sexuality, he really had no clue. Stan had known his whole life that his soulmate would be a girl and Bev was certain her soulmate could be a boy OR a girl. Richie? He had taken so many “am I gay?” quizzes that he was even more confused. But lately? Guys had been looking pretty damn good. 

“Well, I’ve been thinking it over some more…” 

“If you mean you’ve taken more quizzes, that doesn’t mean ‘thinking it over’.” Beverly chuckled. 

“Hey, they’ve helped me quite a bit! But no, I’ve actually been thinking it over, and I am  _ fairly  _ certain it’s a guy. But I don’t wanna limit myself. I’m gonna find that fucker regardless of their gender.”

“Cool, Rich. Let me know when you do and I’ll throw a  _ ‘thank god I don’t have to listen to Richie whining over his tattoo anymore’  _ party.” Stan responded while reaching for more sunscreen. 

“Fuck you, guys. I’m gonna go get a slushie.” Richie said and stood up, brushing sand off his lap. He stepped into his crocs and started walking towards the slushy stand on the upper half of the beach. The slushie at the beach was very expensive, and not that good if you were to trust Stan and Bev, but Richie would buy and drink any slushie as long as it’s cold. Richie was  _ always  _ too hot and slushie was the perfect medicine. Richie was also not too picky when it came to sweet foods. 

The line to the slushy stand was long, and Richie cursed quietly under his breath when he saw it. Great. Now he had to stand in the sun with a black t-shirt on and sweat to death, because taking the shirt off was absolutely  _ not  _ an option. Richie took a place in the line and let out a sigh. Why did life have to be so cruel?

Not long after Richie, more people started to fill up the line. A boy who seemed to be slightly shorter than Richie stood closest to him behind him in line. The line ahead of Richie didn’t seem to move whatsoever, and the curly haired teen was getting more and more impatient. He could feel sweat starting to build up under the black t-shirt and his glasses were sliding down his nose from sunscreen and sweat. It felt like he stood in line for hours, but suddenly there were only a few people in front of him. Now if that girl first in line only could choose between cherry and cola flavour, the torture should be over. 

_ Fucking finally  _ Richie thought when it was his turn. He shot a bright smile at the girl in the stand who he had spoken to multiple times during his slushie buying. 

“What’s up? Could I get a medium blue raspberry?”

“You got it.” The girl, who had long blonde hair, responded with a small smile. Richie gave her two thumbs up, which he regretted instantly and put down. God, he just wanted to get his slushie and get out of there. 

“Here you go. That’ll be five dollars please.” The blonde girl said with a cheery voice.  _ Jesus Christ, that really is expensive  _ Richie thought before handing over a ten dollar bill to the girl, who he could see had the words  _ I love your eyes _ tattooed on her left wrist, when she reached for the money.  _ Oh to live such a simple life _ , Richie thought before grabbing his change from the girl and mumbling a quick “thanks” to her. He had been tortured enough. It was time for the shade, his slushie and some comic books. 

But Richie barely had time to finish that thought before he suddenly collided with the guy standing behind him, making him almost spill his slushie all over both of them. He had managed to hold it far away enough from both of them to save all but a few drops that spilled into the sand. The collision wasn’t too hard, but it was enough to make Richie even more pissed off than he had been before. There was  _ no  _ way that the guy had had to stand so fucking close to Richie. He looked up from the ground where he had previously been staring at, into two dark, brown eyes that looked just as pissed off as Richie felt. The eyes belonged to a boy who looked like he was around Richie’s age, although somewhat shorter. His face was slightly tanned, with soft features and he looked very kind, although his expression said otherwise. His dark eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were tightly shut. He looked pissed off, but also a bit startled. 

Now was the time when Richie could say a half-assed apology and get going back to Stan and Bev before any more trouble could ensue. But that wasn’t the Richie way of handling things. And he was way too irritated to just let that shit go unnoticed.

Instead, Richie grabbed the poor guy’s  _ collar  _ with one hand and leaned in so close that he could feel a scent of vanilla and sunscreen on the boy’s face. Richie completely ignored the people behind them in line and instead he whispered threateningly (or so he thought) “Any last words?”

The boy’s eyes widened, but not from fear. He seemed more shocked. He actually looked  _ really  _ shocked. Richie was just about to let go and ask him if he was okay, when he suddenly took a deep breath and leaned even closer to Richie.

“I fucked your mom.” he whispered back. 

Richie let go of his collar immediately. 

_ What the fuck What the Fuck What the fuck _

Richie thought while he let go of the boy’s collar and took a step back and almost stepped into the slushie stand. The guy, his  _ soulmate, _ stared at him, looking just as shocked as Richie felt. The boy’s dark brown eyes were widened, his mouth slightly open and his hands hung limply by his sides. 

He was quite beautiful, actually. But that was besides the point. 

The two boys stood and stared at each other for probably ten more seconds before the girl in the slushie stand finally spoke up, saying she was happy that they’d found each other, but that they had to move away from the line. Richie’s soulmate (God, it felt weird to think that) grabbed Richie’s hand and led him away into the shade under a tree nearby, where he let go of his hand. Richie’s first two thoughts was one, thank god his soulmate understood the importance of shade, and two,  _ why  _ were his hands so cold? 

“Hey, you okay? Or did you just have a stroke or something?” Richie’s soulmate asked. Richie didn’t answer right away. He was going through every single emotion he’d ever felt in the span of a few seconds. It was a little hard to think. 

“I’m fine. I’m just… shocked, that’s all. I didn’t expect to meet you at a slushie stand, to be honest. I was picturing something a little more romantic.” he finally said, letting out a deep breath. 

“My name’s Eddie. And you are…?” 

“Richie! Richie Tozier.”

“That’s a cute name.” Eddie said with a smile, making his dimples show, making Richie feel heat on his cheeks that wasn’t from the summer heat. God, he had imagined what his soulmate would look like many times, but he had never guessed that they would be this damn  _ cute.  _

“My last name’s Kaspbrak, which we’re totally taking when we get married. Also, thanks for making me go through life with a threatening tattoo saying  _ Any last words? _ , I honestly thought you were gonna be a serial killer.” Eddie said with a chuckle while putting his hands in his pockets.

“Hey!  _ You’re  _ the one insisting on saying the nastiest thing possible as your first words to the love of your life, me, making  _ me  _ having to live my life with a tattoo that says  _ I fucked your mom!  _ I wonder if you can change soulmates somehow.” Richie said all in one go, feeling a lot of relief as he spoke his words. It was over. The tattoo on his back was gone now. He wouldn’t have to wear black t-shirts on the beach anymore. He was  _ free. _

“If it’s worth anything, I regretted it as soon as I said it” Eddie laughed while combing his fingers through his hair. Richie couldn’t help but stare at him. Well, Eddie was staring too, but Richie could feel actual  _ drool  _ building up in his mouth, and he was pretty sure Eddie was too perfect to even have drooled as a baby. Just  _ look  _ at him. The guy had perfect skin, perfect teeth, a dazzling smile, charming eyes and adorable dimples. How did this guy even  _ exist? _

“Sorry if I’m awkward, I’m just not used to talking to people as hot as you.” Richie said, surprising himself with his smoothness. He could even see Eddie trying to hide a smile, and possibly a blush.

“You’re not awkward, you’re cute. I’m sorry for almost ruining your slushie, though. It looks really good. Blue raspberry’s my favourite.”

“Seriously?! Have I  _ finally  _ met someone who appreciates blue raspberry just as much as I do?” Richie said while laughing loudly. Eddie laughed with him, and for a moment Richie thought  _ I could get used to this. _

Suddenly Richie remembered to actually  _ check  _ if his tattoo was gone. Like, he couldn’t be 100% sure that Eddie really  _ was  _ his soulmate until he actually saw the absence of the tattoo. Not that he was doubting even for a second that Eddie was the one. Richie grabbed the t-shirt by the opening at his neck and pulled it upward over his head. When his vision was blocked by the shirt for a few seconds, he could hear Eddie cough. When he pulled the shirt the rest of the way, messing up his hair, he saw Eddie with his fist at his mouth, staring at Richie with a blush that he couldn’t have hidden even if he had tried. Richie smirked and winked. “Like what you see?”

Eddie coughed twice again and shot a smirk back, somehow managing to keep his composure. “Yes, in fact. But I’m mostly thinking about how absolutely inappropriate it would be for us to take our shirts off and kiss right now, which it seems like you’re trying to do.”

Richie smiled brightly. Every time he thought the boy in front of him couldn’t get funnier, hotter, or just more amazing, Eddie surprised him again. 

“Well, for your information, I’m just relieving myself of the burden that is wearing a black shirt in the middle of summer. Now that my  _ scandalous  _ tattoo is gone, I can finally walk around without one. Because it  _ is  _ gone, right?” Richie said while throwing the shirt over his shoulder and turning around so Eddie could check. “Yep, there’s nothing there.” he mumbled. Richie turned back around with another wave of relief, grateful that Eddie was, in fact, the love of his life. 

Eddie suddenly pinched the bridge of his nose with his index fingers and sighed. “Fuck, man. I’m really sorry. It must’ve been horrible to live so long with a tattoo like that. I would take it back if I could.”

“Hey, I was the one who sort of threatened you, so don’t beat yourself up over it. But if you want to, you could… make it up to me?” Richie said in his best seductive voice. He wasn’t sure, but it looked like Eddie shuddered a bit before he replied, which made Richie feel triumphant.

“I immediately thought of something very inappropriate there, but I’m sure that was your intention if you’re anything like me” Eddie said with a bright smile. “but would you at least let me buy you a coffee first?” 

Richie took a step closer to Eddie, which closed almost all the distance between them. Richie was normally not this confident, but he and Eddie seemed to be on the same page, so he decided he could take the chance. 

“I would love that.” Richie replied with a whisper that he knew only Eddie could hear. The not much shorter boy smiled at the curly haired boy in front of him. And then he did something Richie was  _ not  _ expecting.

Eddie angled his head upwards and gently pressed his lips against Richie’s. 

_ Holy shit. _

Richie closed his eyes and kissed Eddie back while cupping his cheek with one hand and grabbing his wrist with the other. Eddie’s lips were incredibly soft, but also very warm. Richie hoped that Eddie would be the one to break the kiss, because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it. However, Eddie also seemed reluctant to break apart. He was doing this really nice thing with his chin, moving it up and down, even though they weren’t full on making out. Richie wished he could live in that moment. But, eventually, they both pulled back slightly, just because they had to breathe. 

Richie took a step back and looked at Eddie with a smile. “That… was great. But unexpected.” he said with visibly red cheeks and puffy lips. Eddie had the same expression, but he also suddenly looked a bit worried. “Oh… was I too forward? I’m really sorry if that was the case.” he said worriedly. Richie laughed slightly and grabbed Eddie’s hand. Like everything that had happened the past few minutes, holding Eddie Kaspbrak’s hand felt like the most natural thing in the world. Richie wondered if everyone felt like this with their soulmates. 

“No, no Eddie! It was  _ not  _ too forward. I mean, I probably would’ve kissed you myself anyways. You’re real’ cute, Eds” 

Richie’s words made Eddie look less worried and his confidence seemed to creep back. “Eds? I hate that. But I’ll make an exception for you.” he giggled. 

“Well… how about that coffee? Tomorrow at 3pm perhaps?” he said while keeping steady eye contact with Richie. 

“Only if it’s iced coffee.” Richie said with another smirk while fishing up his phone from his pocket. Eddie did the same and they exchanged phone numbers. Richie added a bunch of hearts and  _ (love of my life)  _ after Eddie’s name. Eddie simply wrote the name  _ Richie Tozier  _ first, but added, after some hesitation, the words  _ (soulmate and love of life),  _ similar to what Richie had written. Richie couldn’t help but feel warm inside. 

After deciding they would text each other the details, Eddie insisiting they’d call each other instead because it would be “more effective”, Eddie had hugged Richie and pressed a kiss on his cheek as a goodbye. Richie watched as Eddie walked over to three guys a bit away, who probably were a couple of his friends. When Eddie reached them, they all smiled and gave him hugs, probably congratulating him. Richie found himself looking forward to meeting them, and the rest of Eddie’s friends. 

As he was walking back to Bev and Stan, mentally preparing exactly how he would tell them about Eddie and mock Bev for being the only one who hadn’t found her soulmate… 

…Richie thought to himself that maybe summers weren’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not too sure about that ending, but I hope you liked it! I hope you'll take the times to leave kudos, comments and check out my profile for more Reddie! I only have two reddie fics so far, but I'm planning on writing more.
> 
> Thanks for reading!<3


End file.
